RIM offers a glimpse at BlackBerry 10 OS

Wondering what RIM could possibly do to turn things around in a big way? It’s going to take the right mix of sexy hardware, a revamped and highly usable operating system, and some darn good marketing. Based on what new CEO Thorsten Heins has just shown off, RIM looks like they might be getting their swagger back. BlackBerry 10 looks pretty slick so far.

Granted, this is just a half-minute glimpse at some of the basic functionality on display, but it’s clear that RIM is building a totally new experience based on the QNX foundations laid in PlayBook OS — not simply shoehorning it onto smartphones. Apart from the overhauled messages and contacts apps you can see in the video, RIM is working on a killer keyboard. With their trademark physical QWERTY missing in action, the BB10 phone shown here uses slick predictive functionality to help its users enter text as quickly as possible.

The keyboard also offers gesture support, but BlackBerry 10 isn’t stopping there — not by a long shot. There’s also a camera app that offers what RIM calls a “timeline lens,” so that you can step backward or forward in time to pick the ideal moment in case your shutter finger isn’t right on the mark. Multitasking in the OS is “all about the flow,” and it’s a refined version of what PlayBook users have been enjoying on their tablets.

As far the hardware goes, the first developer unit handed out by RIM is certainly a good start. Its PlayBook-esque design is just a side note at this point, since RIM has clearly stated that production units won’t look anything like it. What is important is that it’ll run the same OS as the PlayBook once BlackBerry 10 arrives, and that the screen will feature the same 1280×768 resolution, too. That’s a whopping 355PPI, and substantially better than the 720P displays on many of today’s smartphones.

A gorgeous screen and slick OS will go a long way to selling phones, but RIM knows that apps are a critical part of the equation, too. That’s why they’re equipping developers with additional tools like WebWorks and the native C/C++ SDK in the BlackBerry 10 developer toolkit and giving them hardware to test on today. By the time BlackBerry 10 OS and RIM’s new phones launch later this year, the Mighty Thor is going to want App World packed with top-shelf apps.